Disc rack with holders which rest in a different position when unloaded than when loaded

ABSTRACT

A disc rack capable of supporting holder members for holding a disc in such a way that the holder members are turnable about a supporting rod (3) from a drawn-out position to a retracted position and vice versa, including a positioning member able to come into contact with a circumferential portion of a disc loaded in a holder member when the holder member, is put in the retracted position, to keep the holder member loaded with the disc at a rotation angle different from that of a holder member (1) not loaded with a disc. This disc rack makes it possible to easily confirm whether or not the holder member is loaded with a disc without providing an additional indicator.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a disc rack for containing disc typerecord plates or the like, such as audio discs or video discs.

BACKGROUND ART

As shown in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-39475,a conventional disc rack from which a desired disc can be easily takenout comprises a plurality of holders having a pair of nippers. Theholders are arranged in parallel and placed in a box-type containerhaving an opening at the front part. Rotating the holders about thesupporting rod, the holders can be taken out of the container. In thedisc container, indication levers have an end swinging when an oppositeend is pushed by the circumferential portion of a disc. The levers areused to detect and indicate whether a contained holder holds a disc. Inthis structure, the levers can not be activated smoothly if indicatinglevers are not accurately assembled. This is likely to cause malfunctionand therefore a problem that levers can not precisely indicate whether adisc is held or not.

The present invention, having overcome the above problem, has an objectof providing a disc rack with a simple structure which makes it possibleto precisely indicate whether or not a disc is held.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a disc rack comprising a pluralityof holder members for holding a disc in a vertical direction, asupporting frame for supporting the holder member in such a way that theholder member is turnable about a supporting rod from a drawn-outposition to a retracted position and vice versa, a positioning memberable to come into contact with a circumferential portion of a discloaded in a holder member when the holder member is put in the retractedposition for positioning the holder member being loaded with the disc atan angle different from that of a holder member not being with a disc.

According to the present invention, also, the positioning member able tocome into contact with a circumferential portion of a disc loaded in aholder member being attached to an attachment portion provided on a backplate of the supporting frame.

According to the present invention, further, a top plate of thesupporting frame is provided with a guide member having a guide portionfor guiding the holder member when the holder member is turned, thepositioning member able to come into contact with a circumferentialportion of a disc loaded in a holder member being provided at aback endof the guide member.

According to the present invention, further more, the positioning memberis able to come into contact with a disc loaded in a holder member sothat a front surface of the holder member comes in agreement with afront surface of the supporting frame when the holder member is put inretracted position, and a slide portion is provided on the holdermember, the slide portion being able to come into contact with thepositioning member so that an upper portion of the holder member ispositioned inside of the supporting frame with the holder member beinginclined when the holder member is not loaded with a disc and put in theretracted position.

According to the present invention, yet furthermore, the holder memberhas a bottom portion able to come into contact with a bottom plate ofthe supporting frame so that an upper portion of the holder member ispositioned inside of the supporting frame with the holder member beinginclined when the holder member is not loaded with a disc and put in theretracted position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a disc rackaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a mounting state of shockabsorbers;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III--III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the assembled disc rack;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a holder member being loadedwith a disc;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a holder member being loadedwith no disc;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another disc rack of the present inventionillustrating a holder member being loaded with a disc; and

FIG. 8 is a partial front view of still another disc rack of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a holder unit of a disc rack according to the presentinvention. The holder unit comprises a holder member 1 for holding adisc, a supporting frame 2 for rotatably supporting the holder member 1,a supporting rod 3 on which the holder member 1 rotates, a guide member4 attached to a top end of the supporting frame 2, a positioning member5 provided in a rear portion of the supporting frame 2 and a spacer 7attached to a rotational holding portion 6 of the holder member 1.

The holder member 1 comprises a pair of side plates 8, 9 mated with eachother. The side plates 8, 9 have in their respective inner facescircumferential walls 10 corresponding to the circumferential portion ofa disc, which form a holding portion for holding a disc. Projections 11are provided on top ends of the side plates 8, 9. As stated below, theprojection 11 comes in contact with a stopper 25 of the guide member 4so that the holder member 1 may not leap out from the supporting frame.Another projection 12 is formed before and below the projection 11 andused to draw out the holder member 1. The holder 1 has a notch 13 belowthe projection 12. The notch 13 is used to receive numerical indicationsfor holder members. The side plates 8, 9 have in their respective innerfaces disc-like shock absorbers 14 made of a soft material such assponge rubber or felt at a regular interval to protect the plate facesof a disc.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shock absorbers 14 have their bottom portionstuffed in recesses 15 formed in the side plates 8, 9 and bonded with anadhesive agent or the like. The bottom of the recess 15 is tapered insuch a way that its depth becomes gradually larger from a disc insertionportion to a back portion. Accordingly, a projecting amount M of theshock absorber 14 in the disc insertion portion is larger than that L inthe back portion.

The supporting frame 2 includes a top plate 16, a bottom plate 17 and aback plate 18, each having reinforcing flaps the opposite sides. Thesupporting frame is generally U-shaped and having a space capable ofcontaining a predetermined number of holder members 1. Supportingportions 20 with apertures 19 for holding the supporting rod 3 areformed in the opposite flaps of the bottom plate 17. A cover 21 isattached on the front end of the bottom plate 17.

Reinforcing connection members 22 are attached to side portions of thetop plate 16 and the bottom plate 17. Mounting portions 23 are projectedfrom the back plate 18 to hold the positioning member 5. The positioningmember 5, as stated below, receives a circumferential portion of a discto prevent the disc from receding farther when the holder member 1loaded with disc is retracted, so that the holder member 1 can be heldat a predetermined angle.

The supporting rod 3 has a length equal to the distance between thesupporting portions 20 of the supporting frame 2. Opposite ends of thesupporting rod 3 have screw holes 24 to which mounting bolts (not shown)are screwed. After the supporting rod 23 is mounted with a predeterminednumber of holder members 1 and spacers 7, the mounting bolts areinserted to the apertures 19 of the supporting frame 2 and screwed tothe screw holes 24. In this way, the supporting rod 3 carrying theholder members 1 is attached to the supporting frame 2.

The guide member 4 is attached to the front end of the top plate 16 ofthe supporting frame 2. A front portion of the guide member 4 has aplurality of stoppers 25 disposed in a widthwise direction of the rackwith notches 26 therebetween. The stopper 25 comes in contact with theprojection 11 when the holder member 1 is drawn out and in so as to keepthe holder member 1 in the retracted position. As shown in FIG. 3, theguide member 4 has on its underside a plurality of guides 28 projectingat a regular interval for guiding a sliding portion 27 formed in a rearportion of the holder member 1 and a circumferential portion of the discwhen the holder member 1 is drawn out and in.

The spacer 7 includes a flange 29 and a boss 30. The boss 30 has a fulllength of l larger than the thickness of the holder member 1, so thatthere exists a predetermined gap between adjacent holder members 1 whenthe disc rack is assembled.

A plurality of holder units are laterally connected and a pair of sidewalls 31 made of a decorative panel or the like are attached to theopposite sides of the connected holer units. Consequently, a disc rackis completed. In the assembled disc rack, a holder member 1 holding adisc A rotates about the supporting rod 3, that is, it moves from thedrawn-out position drawn out before the supporting frame 2 as shown witha phantom line in FIG. 5 to the retracted position retracted within thesupporting frame 2 as shown with a solid line and vice versa. When theholder member 1 is retracted holding the disc A, the positioning member5 receives a circumferential portion of the disc A. As a result, thefront surface of the holder member 1 is kept in agreement with that ofthe supporting frame 2.

On the other hand, when the holder 1 is retracted without holding thedisc A as shown in FIG. 6, a bottom portion of the holder member 1 comesinto contact with the bottom plate 17 of the supporting frame 2, or theholder member 1 is turned until the sliding portion 27 of the holdermember 1 comes into contact with the positioning member 5. In the lattercase, the upper portion of the holder member 1 reaches a position closerto the back plate 18, with the holder member 1 itself slanting backward,compared with the case in which the holder member 1 is retracted holdingthe disc A. The holder member 1 holding the disc A is kept at an angledifferent from an angle at which the holder member 1 has no disc.Accordingly, even when the holder member 1 is retracted in the discrack, it can be instantaneously noticed whether the holder member 1 isholding a disc or not. Consequently, there is no need to provide anextra indicator such as an indication lever for indicating whether adisc is held or not. This leads to a disc rack having a simplifiedstructure.

In the above embodiment, the projecting amount of the shock absorber 14attached to the side plates 8, 9 of the holder member 1 graduallybecomes larger from the projection L at the disc insertion portion tothe projection M at the back portion. Thus, a circumferential portion ofthe disc does not touch the outer surface of the shock absorber 14 whenthe disc is inserted into the holder member 1, and the disc can besmoothly inserted along the surface of the shock absorber 14.Accordingly, any shock absorber 14 falling off the side plates 8, 9 canbe effectively avoided even when a disc is repeatedly inserted andwithdrawn. Additionally, the embodiment is advantageous in that directcontact of the plate surface of the disc with the inner surface of theside plates 8, 9 is avoided, thereby protecting the disc.

In the above embodiment, the positioning member 5 is attached to themounting members 23 projecting from the back plate 18 of the supportingframe 2, and the positioning member 5 receives the circumferentialportion of the disc inserted into the holder member 1, so that theholder member 1 holding the disc is kept at a predetermined angledifferent from that of the holder member holding no disc. In addition,as shown in FIG. 7, a positioning member 32 which makes contact with acircumferential portion of a disc may be provided in a rear portion ofthe guide member 4 so that the holder member 1 holding the disc is keptat a predetermined angle by the positioning member 32.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a projection 33 may be provided on a sideof a holder member which is able to come in contact with the next holdermember 1 when drawing out and in. This is advantageous in thatinterference between holder members 1 is avoided when the holder member1 is drawn out and in. Consequently, a trouble that drawing-out and inof the holder member 1 becomes difficult because a side plate of one ofthe holder members 1 intercepts that of the other or the disc can beeffectively avoided.

EXPLOITABILITY IN INDUSTRY

A disc rack according to the present invention is provided with apositioning member able to come into contact with a circumferentialportion of a disc loaded in a holder member when the holder member isput in the retracted position for positioning the holder member, so thatthe holder holding the disc is kept at an angle different from that theholder member holding no disc. Accordingly, the present invention makesit possible to instantaneously notice whether the holder member isloaded with a disc or not by a simplified construction without an extraindication member.

I claim:
 1. A disc rack comprising a plurality of holder members (1) forholding a disc (A) in a vertical direction, a supporting frame (2) forsupporting the holder member (1) in such a way that the holder member(1) is turnable about a supporting rod (3) from a drawn-out position toa retracted position and vice versa, a positioning member means operableto come into contact with a circumferential portion of the disc (A)loaded ion a holder member (1) when the holder member (1) is put in theretracted position and therefor positioning the holder member (1) loadedwith the disc (a) at a rotation angle different from that a holdermember (1) not loaded with a disc (A).
 2. A disc rack according to claim1 comprising attachment means attaching the positioning member means (5)to an attachment portion (23) provided on a back plate (18) of thesupporting frame (2).
 3. A disc rack according to claim 1 wherein a topplate (16) of the supporting frame (2) is provided with a guide member(4) having a guide portion (28) for guiding the holder member (1) whenthe holder member (1) is turned, the positioning member means (32) beingprovided at a back end of the guide member (4).
 4. A disc rack accordingto claim 2 wherein the positioning member means (5) is operable to comeinto contact with a disc (A) loaded in a holder member (1) so that afront surface of the holder member (1) comes in agreement with a frontsurface of the supporting frame (2) when the holder member (1) is putinto retracted position, and a slide portion (27) is provided on theholder member (1), the slide portion (27) being operable to come intocontact with the positioning member means (5) so that an upper portionof the holder member (1) is positioned inside of the supporting frame(2) with the front surface of the holder member (1) being inclined withrespect to one front surface of the support frame when the holder member(1) is not loaded with a disc (A) and put in the retracted position. 5.A disc rack according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the positioning membermeans is operable to come into contact with a disc (A) loaded in aholder member (1) so that a front surface of the holder member (12)comes in agreement with a front surface of the supporting frame (2) whenthe holder member (1) is put in retracted position while loaded with thedisc, and the holder member (1) has a bottom portion able to come intocontact with a bottom plate (17) of the supporting frame (2) so that anupper portion of the holder member (1) is positioned inside of thesupporting frame (2) with the front surface of the holder member (1)being inclined with respect to the front surface of the support framewhen the holder member (1) is not loaded with a disc (A) and put in theretracted position.